Contribution of George Eliot to literature

George Eliot remains to be one of the brightest novelists in the Victorian era, who started the genre of feminism. In her writings, we get to see the spiroted bid for independence which often made her contemporaries uneasy.

Introduction

The Victorian age saw a sudden uprise of women novelists, the list of which is long - George Eliot,Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë,and others. They contributed a great deal to had been previously a male dominated literary scene.They went forth to revive the long lost position of women as writers.

Outline of Adam Bede

Mary Ann (or Marian) Evans, known to us as George Eliot, started writing late in life when she was almost forty years old, and occupied the leading position among living novelists . She filled the vacuum after the death of Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray. She had to disguise herself by taking the name of a man as people during that time were strongly against female writes. The first novel which brought literary fame to her is Adam Bede. The original source of which was given by the aunt, Elizabeh Evans, of George Eliot, when she had to spend a night at the condemned cell of Nottingham jail with a peson awaiting execution for the murder of her child, being a Methodist preacher. The protagonist is Hetty Sorrel with her irresistable beauty,who is loved by the honest,innocent carpenter,Adam Bede. The unrequited love of Adam for Hetty forms the core of this novel.

Outine of Romola

Romola, another breath taking novel of George Eliot narrates the tale when a zealot named Savonarola seized the power from the ruling Medici family. Romola, a true follower of Savonarola is deeply hurt by this move of him, she leaves her home and oppurtunist husband, to tend to the sick. This novel is regarded as one of the best hisorical novels.

Outline of Silas Marner

George Eliot's best novel is Silas Marner. The character are common people of the Midlands, the hero being a linen weaver.Silas Marner is accused with a wrong deed which he has not done and is so foced to live without his family members. He comes to a new place and starts living there. One day, a girl named Eppie comes to his home. Eppie is the child of Silas's landlod,Godfrey Cass. Godfrey's wife and Eppie's mother is an opium-addict person who was coming to the land of Godfrey to disclose the matter as Godfrey had left her, and was ln the verge of a new marriage. While crossing the vast lands filled with snow, Eppie's mother, however, dies. Eppie then comes to the house of Silas and peace is returned to the home of Silas. The turning poimg in the story is when Godfrey asks Eppie to return to him but she declares sternly that she cannot think of happiness without him(Silas Marner). Eppie then gets married to a boy of local land and settles happily. Godfrey is also eradicated of the false allegation.When we close the book, we are impressed with a clear picture of reality.

Conclusion

George Eliot has been re-established as one of the leading female novelists and her works have been the centre of attention of mamy critics. Today, she is set firmly as one of the stern feminist writers who opened forth an entire new genre of writing.

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